Page 337 - (DK) I Can’t Believe It! 2
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TRUE OR FALSE? 335
US swimmer Michael Phelps has At the ancient Olympics, winners did not receive
won 28 gold medals. The most medals. Instead, they were crowned with the kotinos,
ever won by a single person, this is a wreath of olive leaves taken from a sacred tree. Winners’
10 more than the number won by medals were first introduced at the 1904 Olympics, held
the second-highest record holder. in St. Louis. As the price of gold rose after World War I
and the Great Depression, the amount used in the
winners’ medals declined. Today there must be at
least 0.2 oz (6 g) of gold in each gold medal.
FAST FACTS
SOCCER
IS THE BIGGEST
SPECTATOR SPORT SOCCER 3.4
This popular Olympic
sport is an energetic
business, and players can
run up to 6 miles (10 km) CRICKET 2.5
in just one game. Perhaps
this explains why the
world’s biggest participant
sport is the rather less
strenuous fishing.
BASKETBALL 2.5
(Billions of fans)
IN PELOTA THE BALL
CAN MOVE AT UP
TO 185 MPH
(300 KM/H)
STERLING
SILVER Pelota is Spanish
92.5% ZINC AND TIN for “ball,” and this
3% fiery game from the
Basque region of the
Pyrenees keeps players
COPPER on their toes. They use a
97% glove or bat, and a ball with a
rubber core. It was played as an Olympic
BRONZE GOLF HAS BEEN PLAYED
sport at the 1900 games.
ON THE MOON
On February 6, 1971, Alan Shepard hit
a golf ball on the lunar surface, having
smuggled the ball and club on board in
his space suit. Golf was reinstated as an
Olympic sport at the 2016 Rio games.
In 1914 Frenchman Pierre
de Coubertin designed the
Olympic symbol of five linked
rings to represent the
continents taking part.
US_334_335_309600_Olympics.indd 335 10/01/18 2:58 pm
